ISLAMABAD — A suicide bombing tore through a Shia mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital after morning prayers, killing at least 31 people and wounding more than 130, local authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks to strike Islamabad in recent years.
The blast hit the Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra mosque in the Tarlai area, where worshippers had gathered at the start of the day. A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the toll was expected to rise as critically injured victims were treated.
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Scenes of chaos unfolded at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, where adults and children were rushed in on stretchers and in private vehicles. Witnesses said medics and bystanders helped unload victims from ambulances; at least one casualty arrived in the trunk of a car. Security forces cordoned off the mosque, stringing crime-scene tape around an area littered with shoes, clothing and shattered glass.
Videos posted on social media — which could not be immediately verified — showed bodies near the mosque’s front gate and debris strewn across its red-carpeted prayer hall.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Islamabad mosque bombing. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and vowed that those behind it would be found and brought to justice. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar called it “a heinous crime against humanity and a blatant violation of Islamic principles,” adding in a post on X, “Pakistan stands united against terrorism in all its forms.”
The blast underscores the country’s deteriorating security climate. Authorities say separatist insurgents in the southern province of Balochistan and the Pakistani Taliban and other Islamist militants in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region have intensified attacks, often using Afghanistan as a staging ground. Islamabad accuses militants of exploiting cross-border sanctuaries; Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies the allegation, and tensions between the neighbors have led to frequent border clashes.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority nation, but Shias — who make up an estimated 10% to 15% of the population — have been repeatedly targeted by militants in deadly attacks across the region. The last major strike in the capital came in November, when a suicide blast outside a court killed 12 people and wounded dozens — the first such attack to hit Islamabad in nearly three years.
Separately, Pakistani forces remain under pressure in Balochistan. A wave of attacks claimed by separatist insurgents last week killed 36 civilians and 22 security personnel, according to officials. Authorities said subsequent counteroperations killed almost 200 militants.
Police investigators picked through the wreckage at the Tarlai mosque as hospitals across the capital treated casualties from the suicide attack. Officials warned the death toll could rise given the number of critically injured and the scale of the blast’s devastation inside the packed prayer hall.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
